Lesson #1: You Don’t Have a People Problem—You Have a Systems Problem
For 12 years, I’ve worked with school leaders in every situation you can imagine—new schools, schools in transition, and schools on the brink of failure.
And there’s one pattern I see over and over again:
Leaders think they have a people problem.
They say:
- “My team isn’t strong enough.”
- “This person isn’t the right fit.”
- “I need better people.”
But in most cases…
That’s not the real issue.
The Real Problem
Most leadership challenges are not people problems.
They are systems problems.
I’ve seen this in my own leadership.
There was a time when I had individuals in key roles that I didn’t believe were equipped for the job.
I questioned whether they were the right people.
But when I stepped back, I realized something:
They weren’t failing because of capability.
They were struggling because we didn’t have the right systems in place.
There were no clear systems for:
- Purchasing
- Student meetings
- Parent communication
- Daily priorities
- Provide feedback (to students or ...
Highlighting Leadership Excellence at The Expedition School
This month marks a significant milestone for us at Leaders Building Leaders as we kick off our tenth year in business. Established in April 2014, I led the company's first retreat around the second week of July that year. We are proud of the impact we've made over the past decade and remain dedicated to empowering leaders and fostering excellence.
To celebrate, each week I am going to highlight one of our school's in our Empowered Executives: Inner Circle. The Inner Circle is a weekly virtual mastermind made up of public charter school principals, directors, and other administrators. They come together to share breakthroughs, gain advice, strategy and new perspectives from leaders in their positions.Â
The first school I desire to highlight is The Expedition School (TES) in Hillsborough, North Carolina. When I wrote my book on high performing charter schools, the chapter on a Healthy School Culture Conducive for Learning, it was a school like TES that I modeled it after.Â
The Expedit...
